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Ni MARVIN LOBOS Nagtanim kami Ng lakas-ng-loob Ng baka-sakali Sa burak Na napaglubugan na halos Ng kaliwa naming paa. Doon Hindi mo na makikilala Ang aming pawis Libag Luha Dugo Pagkat pinag-isang dibdib na mga iyon Ng aming lunggati Sa dalisay na tubig at putik...
The farmers filed charges of murder, frustrated and attempted murder, torture and physical injuries, illegal arrest and detention and other violations of civil and political rights, including the right to peaceful assembly and redress of grievances.
“Kidapawan should not be another Escalante, Mendiola or Luisita.”
“He is from the 39th Infantry Battalion and a rebel returnee. He had received money from the government. That poses a question to his statement. It bears no weight to the case. It is a paid testimony.”
Last week’s killing, wounding and illegal arrest of drought-stricken farmers who barricaded the Davao-Cotabato highway to dramatize their demands has brought to national attention the harsh realities in the country’s rural areas. It highlighted the desperate...
Contrary to medico-legal reports, both farmers died from single, fatal gunshot wound, according to forensic expert Raquel Fortun.
“They do not deserve to be in jail just like other political prisoners, whose rights have been violated from the very beginning.”
“Didn’t the farmers of Escalante shout for land, rice, and better working conditions? And what did the government do? Just like the Kidapawan farmers, they were fed with bullets.
“We deplore the culture of impunity perpetuated by the Aquino administration where even the provision of health services is treated as a criminal act.”
One week after the violent dispersal of farmers' barricade in Kidapawan City, progressive groups and supporters held a protest in Manila. They condemned the silence of President Benigno Aquino III on the issue.
“Bumaba na sila dahil wala naman slang nagagawang kabutihan para sa mamamayan lalo na sa mga mahihirap na tao… Nagmasaker sila ng mga taong walang ibang kahilingan kundi bigas.” (They should step down because they are not doing anything good for the people, especially the poor…They massacred those who were only asking for rice.) -- Nora Aunor
“Kung walang baril dun hindi nangyari yung may namatay at may naputukan (If there were no guns used, no one would have died or have suffered from gunshot).”
“What they needed is rice and not the spin of the Liberal Party or the administration.”
“The actions of the Filipino police violate the rights to life and to be free from arbitrary detention enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and the right to food guaranteed by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights."
A gathering in solidarity of protesting Cotabato farmers wants to hold the whole Aquino administration accountable for the bloody dispersal.
BULATLAT SPECIAL REPORT
Under a negligent government, legitimate demands will continue to bring people out of their homes and into the danger zone that is the barricade.
“The situation would not have escalated into a bloody tragedy if the government had admitted their lapses and heeded the call of the farmers.”
A national fact-finding team fear a "whitewash" of the April 1 Kidapawan bloody dispersal of a peasant barricade.
“It is preposterous that a church compound – a sanctuary for many victims and those seeking the kind intervention of the Church – has been made into a military/police camp since April 1.”
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